Flexural Behaviour, Microstructure and Cost- Benefit Analysis of Ternary Binder Foamed Concrete

Abstract

Foamed concrete is a controlled low-density concrete, and due to its excellent thermal insulating and acoustic absorption properties, its application has been on a steady rise. Palm Oil Fuel Ash (POFA), an agricultural waste generated by the Palm Oil industry and Eggshells, cause many environmental problems. The pozzolanic nature of POFA and the Calcium Oxide content in eggshells are the components that contribute to their suitability as a partial cement replacement in concrete. This experimental work studied the flexural behaviour as well as the compressive strength of foamed concrete incorporating POFA and Eggshells Powder (ESP) as partial cement replacement. Types of foamed concrete mix proportion was used is conventional foamed concrete and foamed concrete (20% - 25% POFA and 5% - 10% ESP). The test results were analyzed and compared with conventional foamed concrete without POFA and ESP. The compressive strength of all of the mixes with the addition of POFA and ESP increased compared with the control mix. Foamed concrete (20% POFA and 10% ESP) achieved the highest strength and increased 23.37% from the control sample. The flexural strength of control samples had the highest strength while the samples with POFA and ESP reduced until 50% compared to control samples. Most of the crack pattern of the prism is near to the middle of the samples and between two locations of loads applied. It can be concluded that foamed concrete with POFA and ESP shows good performance in compressive strength but not in flexural strength.